crowdfunded project

The first toy in the Hasbro HASLAB project was announced in Jabba's Sail Barge from Star Wars. Like other crowdfunding projects, this HASLAB toy will not be created unless the project gets a set number of pledges. Unlike other crowdfunding projects, this toy's promise is set and executed by Hasbro itself. The crowdfunding, the production, and the shipping is all done by Hasbro itself, not a 3rd-party startup.

Back in mid-2016, fans of old school PC gaming were excited to learn that a complete remake of the hit System Shock was being made by developer Nightdive Studios. The project went on to successfully raise $1.35 million from its Kickstarter campaign, surpassing its original $900,000 goal. Unfortunately, it appears backers and everyone else will be waiting quite a bit longer to play the new System Shock, as Nightdive has revealed the project is now on indefinite "hiatus."

A tiny palm-sized "Game Boy" called PocketSprite has appeared on a crowdfunding website where it has nearly hit its funding goal. PocketSprite is small enough to fit on a keychain, but is fully functional despite its tiny size. The miniature gaming console offers a variety of retro games and presents them all on a tiny high-contrast OLED display.

The venerable computer mouse was never really envisioned to be anything beyond a pointing device. It definitely wasn’t envisioned to be a gaming input device. And yet the mouse, along with the keyboard, has practically defined and differentiated PC gaming from other forms of gaming. That, however, doesn’t mean it’s not in dire need of an innovation. But while most gaming mice simply throw in more buttons, more sensitivity, or more light into the equation, Lexip is doing something different. It is, instead, throwing in not one but two joysticks inside the mouse.

Smart speakers are all the range in tech these days and soon it will be the battle of the titans. But as those giants scuffle, the small men, the consumers, sometimes get trampled on. Especially their privacy. It's no secrets that the likes of Amazon and Google want your data. They promise to do no evil, but you can never really tell. Consumers have opted to just accept the status quo in exchange for convenience. Now, however, they don't have to compromise just to get an Amazon Echo or Google Home experience, with the Mycroft Mark II Open Voice Assistant speaker.

How do you know when you have a winning product? When over 1,000 people collectively raise more than half a million dollars for a $600 product from a company that many have already complained about in the past for their late deliveries and lack of communication. Those seem to be inadequate to deter PC gamers from getting their hands on the GPD WIN 2, which promises no gaming laptop could: gaming on the go, even while standing up.

Coders and word smiths just love their mechanical keyboards. But just because the mechanisms might be considered “old school” doesn’t mean the design has to be. Then again, there’s no stopping keyboard makers from giving a nod to an even older typing favorite. Lofree, who already successfully crowdfunded a mechanical keyboard in April 2017, is now back with a new and improved model, with colors inspired by the four seasons, a design inspired by typewriters, and functionality inspired by modern Mac keyboards.

Back in October, Japanese company Yukai Engineering introduced a therapeutic pillow called Qoobo. Though it is a pillow, it has a big twist compared to other pillows: it is styled after a cat, including soft fur and a wagging tail. That makes Qoobo as much robot as it is cushion, one designed to give someone a sense of comfort without squeezing an actual living cat.

A new Kickstarter campaign seeks funding for PITTA, a sphere-shaped multi-purpose camera device that can function as a drone, action camera, and more. According to the team behind it, PITTA is a "modular transformative drone," one that has mountable and wearable functionality as well as being aerial. That makes it a complete package of sorts, able to meet different needs at different times while maintaining a compact size.

Smartphones are getting more powerful but they’re also growing bigger. Even Apple, who held out the longest, has jumped on the phablet train two years back. There are still some, however, who find riches in the smallest things. Earlier this year, we got to see the Jelly, the world’s smallest smartphone. That might still be too much for some who just need a small device for calling. Enter tiny t1 from UK-based Zanco, which is probably the smallest “dumb” phone no one thought they wanted until now.

Chinese company GPD, short for “Game Pad Digital”, has just taken the veils off its next bid for a Windows 10 gaming handheld. The GPD WIN 2, the follow up to last year’s more or less successful first attempt, is already picking up steam. But while the handheld computer’s specs look fine on paper, the real question is whether it will be able to actually play more than just simple games. It turns out that it can, but there’s going to be a price to pay. A very literal one.

Digital cameras still have an edge over smartphone when it comes to quality, but they can be slow when it comes to workflow. Sharing or printing a picture requires sending it to another computer and while built-in Wi-Fi or Bluetooth try to alleviate that, these features are often painfully slow. That is why a group of digital photography enthusiasts have come together to build the CamFi Pro, a wireless camera controller that’s so fast, you might think you’re transferring data over a USB cable instead.